[Note-- see http://www.GetHudsonValley.org and http://www.MicroBizNY.org for more on how valuable and cost-effective microenterprise lending is as an economic development tool to create jobs; I've sat down with GET President Enrique Rob Lunski a number of times over the last few years-- we're working together now to try to get some real funding so GET can actually do some microlending beyond the tiny amount they have at their disposal currently for this (see below)...Please contact our County Legislature at countylegislature@co.dutchess.ny.us and countylegislators@co.dutchess.ny.us on this as well...Joel (876-2488) joeltyner@earthlink.net (This one's an old one for me; brought international pro-microenterprise hunger advocacy group RESULTS to Rhinebeck a dozen years ago for forum based on successes of Grameen Bank; got Dem caucus last December to agree to help me push for $20,000 funding for GET, but G.O.P. rejected.)]
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From Enrique Rob Lunski, Ph.D...
[President of GET: Gateways to Entrepreneurial Tomorrows (790-5004)]
November 21, 2006
Equal access to economic resources and possibilities is a cornerstone of a healthy democracy. Historical lack of equal access to education, funding and guidance, deny underserved minorities and low income families the chance to start their own businesses and share in the American dream of financial independence. What is needed is a level playfield where businesses can grow based on their own strengths, rather than on economic, ethnic or racial barriers.
GET is a free service to foster entrepreneurship across urban areas in the Mid Hudson Valley region. It fills the gap in existing services by starting its work at the basic early stages of the business ladder: the germination period where ideas are formed. GET's services target underserved minorities and low income families, helping them start their own business through:
* Free confidential consultations and technical assistance
* Business and entrepreneurial training
* Access to regional opportunities
* Individual mentorship
* Micro-loans for business start-ups
Almost two years have passed since GET started operations, first under the umbrella of Marist College School of Management and most recently as its own 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization. During this time hundreds of people with many ideas, hopes for a better life and dreams of financial independence have visited GET.
GET has worked on 156 entrepreneurial projects with a total of 166 entrepreneurs. Each project is broken down into one of five categories:
* Latino/ Hispanic-- 18 projects
* African American-- 45 projects
* Asian/ Indian-- 6 projects
* Low-Income-- 57 projects
* Disabled-- 2 projects
* Non-profit-- 2 projects
* Other-- 26 projects
Of these 156 projects, 43 are already in business.
Initial funding came from the Dyson Foundation in the amount of $300,000.00, with the Dutchess County Industrial Development Agency contributing $25,000.00.
We are submitting this request in support of our programs and to expand the offering of micro loans to minorities and low income families who want to jumpstart their own business in Dutchess County.
In partnership with Community Capital Resources, a Westchester-based lending organization, we have applied for and received a grant from Empire State Development Corporation for $25,000 to be used as micro loans. Under this collaborative program, we are able to offer business start-up loans up to $5,000.00 and up to $10,000.00 for existing businesses. This amount can only assist 3-5 initiatives. We are requesting additional funding to expand this micro loan fund in Dutchess County, a program which GET can administer from its Poughkeepsie Offices.
At the Annual Pattern for Progress Dinner last month, outgoing Pattern President Mike DiTullo and Pattern Chairman Carl Meyer both referred to GET as one of the best things that has happened in the region in the last few years in terms of economic development.
Mohammad Yunus, winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, and credited with starting the micro-loan/enterprise concept summed it up when he said:
"People can change their own lives, provided they have the right kind of institutional support. They're not asking for charity, charity is no solution to poverty...(the answer to)...poverty is the creation of opportunities like everybody else has, but not the poor people, so bring them to the poor people, so that they can change their lives. That's all we are doing. We didn't do anything special; all we did was we lent it to the poor people, and that makes the trick. That makes the change."
(Mohammad Yunus, Nobel Foundation Website)
Yunus founded the Grameen bank in Bangladesh, a bank which today has over a thousand branches serving millions of small business owners, of which more than 90% are women. Perhaps the most significant result of Yunus' lending policies is that over 98% of all loans are repaid.
"Based on a recent analysis of New York State's labor market there are approximately 1.5 million microenterprises operating throughout the state. These microenterprises employ approximately 19% of the state's entire workforce.
Furthermore, a 2000 analysis of the state funded Entrepreneurial Assistance Program (EAP), prepared by Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC), demonstrated that each job created through the EAP cost the state only $1,600 and that for every $1 spent on the Entrepreneurial Assistance program, $2 in tax revenue was generated. These numbers are merely the tip of the iceberg and clearly show the importance of the microenterprise sector as it relates to the states economy."( http://www.microbiz.org )
We are asking the Dutchess County Legislature for $100,000.00, in support of the GET program and to fund Micro-Loans in Dutchess County. Of this amount, $40,000 will be used to bring our program, of free technical assistance, training and mentorship, and our six week seminar series "Entrepreneurship for Everyone" to the urban areas with the highest concentration of low income families as identified by the Legislature. GET wants to work with the Legislature in promoting economic development to those segments of the population that need it the most, helping them achieve economic independence and thus reducing the burden of welfare services and delinquency.
The remaining $60,000 will be used to start a Micro-Loan program in Dutchess County to supplement the $25,000 that we are already have to give out. Of the $60,000, 15-20% will go towards administrative expenses to maintain the micro loan program, and to provide technical assistance and training to the entrepreneurs applying for the funding before, and for two years after they start their business.
I thank you for the opportunity to introduce our successful program to you. I am available to come speak to the legislature and or committees as you may see it appropriate. If you need additional information please don't hesitate to contact me.
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